Re: Article from 3/2 Christian Science Monitor: "Pardon me,

[Michael McNaughton <mcnaught@lanl.gov>]

At 05:59 PM 3/2/00 -0600, you wrote:
>Am-241 is to my knowledge not welcome in nuclear weapons

You are correct; nevertheless, Pu usually contains about 1% Am-241.

>Anyway it takes quite a time to build up from fissionable material. 

Yes, it grows in with a half life of 14 years. Most Pu is older than this. 

There are also higher-energy gammas, some from Pu-239, some from
impurities. The higher-energy gammas total about one tenth the number from
Am-241. 

>I guess cannot
>be detected with simple measurement devices like Geiger-Mueller counters. 

60 keV gammas can be detected with Geiger-Mueller counters.

mike

Mike McNaughton
email: mcnaught@LANL.gov or mcnaughton@LANL.gov
phone: (505)667-6130
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